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Cape Cod Biking Trails

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Cape Cod Biking Trails Cape Cod Biking Trails http://www.capecodbikeguide.com/trails.asp Cape Cod Rail Trail The 26-mile paved trail begins in South Dennis and follows an old railroad bed to Wellfleet. Cape Cod Canal Bike Hike The flat paved service roads on each side of the Cape Cod Canal are each 7 miles long, with views of the canal and the canal bridges. Ten minutes away from Onset. Bike rental close by in Buzzards Bay. Nickerson State Park This popular Brewster state park has an extensive network of bicycle trails, with many steep hills and winding paths. Cape Cod National Seashore The federally designated Seashore, a vast swath of land on the Outer Cape, has three main paved bike trails, including one at the Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro and the 5.45- mile Province Lands Trail in Provincetown. Town of Barnstable Trails Barnstable, the Cape's largest town and located in the Mid- Cape area, has a good number of different conservation trails available. We profile them below for you. Shining Sea Bike Path This path in Falmouth is an easy flat ride that goes from tidal marsh, then right along the beach for quite a bit, down to Woods Hole. Bike rental nearby in Falmouth at start of trail. Quick thirty minute drive from Onset laid tracks that connected Boston and Cape Cod Rail Trail Sandwich. Railroad track extensions continued and by 1873, Old Colony had linked Boston with Cape Cod’s outermost point of Provincetown, offering a miraculously short, five-hour journey. As the Cape’s popularity as a summer resort increased, the railroad was heavily used to transport visitors from New York and Connecticut, as well as other parts of Massachusetts. With the growing number of visitors came train-loads of food and other provisions needed to meet their needs. But the railroad’s importance was soon surpassed Biking on the Cape Cod Rail Trail by the automobile. Bridges to carry cars over Cape Cod Canal were opened in 1935, and in Dennis/Wellfleet 508 896-3491 1937 passenger service to the towns east of The Cape Cod Rail Trail follows a former Dennis ended. Trains continued to haul freight railroad right-of-way for 22 miles through the until the mid-1960’s, but then the tracks were towns of Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, torn up and the station-houses were razed or Eastham and Wellfleet. Its paved surface, few vandalized. If you look carefully as you ride hills, and well-marked automobile crossings along the trail, you can still see occasional make it ideal for cyclists. The trail has a wide relics of the Cape’s rail days. unpaved shoulder on one side to Park Directions accommodate horseback riding, walkers, and The Cape Cod Rail Trail is located in the mid- runners. Cape area, in southeastern Massachusetts. There are many opportunities to get off the Free parking for trail users is available at: trail and visit a beach. Food and water are also readily available and public restrooms • The trailhead at Route 134 in South can be found at Nickerson State Park, Salt Dennis Pond Visitors Center at Cape Cod National • Headwaters Drive in Harwich Seashore and the National Seashore • Route 137 in Brewster Headquarters. If you do not have a bike, bike rentals are available at many points along the • Nickerson State Park in Brewster way. For people with disabilities, a limited • Orleans Center number of hand-cycles are available for rent • Cape Cod National Seashore at the Salt at specific bike concessions. For more Pond Visitors Center in Eastham, one-half information call Nickerson State Park at 508- mile from the Locust Road intersection 896-3491. with the trail History • National Seashore at Marconi Area Before the first railroad tracks were laid, the • The trailhead at LeCount Hollow Road in Cape was a relatively isolated area, South Wellfleet accessible only by packet boat or stagecoach. By 1848, the Old Colony Railroad Company CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL OF ONSET, CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS SHUL PHONE IN SUMMER, 508.291.1058 WWW.CAPECODSHUL.ORG CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL OF ONSET, CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS SHUL PHONE IN SUMMER, 508.291.1058 WWW.CAPECODSHUL.ORG Cape Cod Canal Bike Hike The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welcomes you to the Cape Cod Canal. You’re invited to exercise your body and mind as you journey along the waterway. Discover the Canal’s unique history and features while you bike, skate, or walk along the service roads on either side. Take this guide with you to explore the various points of interest along your way. Whether you’re on the North (mainland) side or the South (Cape) side, traveling East towards Cape Cod Bay or West towards Buzzards Bay, biking all or part of the service road, this guide will serve as an informative companion. Where do I stop? Look for pole numbers. These are numbers that are posted on the navigational lighting poles that run the entire length of the service roads. The numbers start on the east end near Cape Cod Bay and increase as you head west towards Buzzards Bay. This guide may be used no matter where you start, just match up the points of interest with the pole numbers. Points of Interest • Numbered poles are about 500 feet apart Safety First! In order to ensure the safety of yourself and other visitors when bicycling or in-line skating along the Canal’s service roads there a few things to keep in mind: • Always wear the recommended safety equipment, and be sure it fits properly • Go slow • Stay to the right side of the road • When passing slower moving traffic, make sure to announce that you are about to pass on the left side Pole #10: Scusset Beach Breakwater • Winds on the Canal can be strong at times. In May of 1909, The Boston, Cape Cod & New Be careful not to tire yourself out York Canal Company, owned by August • Drink plenty of water, and rest often Belmont, • When stopping, move to side of the road with Chief Engineer William Parsons, began • Be safe, respect others, and have fun! work on the Cape Cod Canal. Large boulders were placed at the east end of the Canal to help control sediment build up across the Canal’s eastern entrance. This marked the first phase of the Canal’s creation. The first one-ton chunk of granite CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL OF ONSET, CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS SHUL PHONE IN SUMMER, 508.291.1058 WWW.CAPECODSHUL.ORG brought in from Maine, was placed in forty feet Pole #110: Old Sagamore Bridge Abutment of water on June 19, 1909. and Keith Car Works Co. The final length of the breakwater is 3,000 feet, The Keith Car Works Manufacturing and it weighs about 325,000 tons. Corporation was once the largest employer on Cape Cod. At their peak the company employed up to 1400 people and their factory buildings stretched for about 1 mile. Keith Car Company began making sleds which were towed by horses, and later patented and produced the 40-8 boxcar design used by trains. Keith Car Company manufactured products at their Sagamore location from the mid 1800’s until 1928. The last Keith Car Co. building was removed in the 1930s when the Canal was widened. Pole #35 East Mooring and East Boat Basin : The concrete wall with an A-framed house on it In stormy or foggy weather, ships that need to is the last remaining piece of the original wait for improving weather conditions will use Sagamore Bridge, in use from 1913 to 1935. the wooden pilings called dolphins at the The other abutment cannot be seen because it mooring basin. The East Boat Basin or what is was removed when improvements were made now known as Sandwich Marina, provides a to the Canal after the Government purchased it variety of services for both commercial and in 1928. recreational boaters. The facilities at Sandwich Marina include a boat ramp, a fuel dock, and boat slips for commercial and recreational vessels. It is also the home for one of the most lucrative commercial fishing fleets on the east coast. To the west of the marina is the Canal Electric Plant. The privately owned and operated power plant generates most of its electricity by burning crude oil. It is also capable of burning natural gas from pipes that run under the Canal. It is not uncommon to see a large tanker docked at the plant unloading oil. Power generated by the plant is used by many homes and businesses around Massachusetts. Pole #130: Sagamore Bridge The Sagamore Bridge and Bourne Bridges are similar in many ways. They were built between the years 1933-1935. Their elevated design was chosen to replace Belmont’s drawbridges as a way to improve the movement of vehicle and vessel traffic. They have a vertical clearance of 135 feet and a horizontal clearance of 480 feet for vessels traveling under them. The only difference between the two highway bridges today is that the CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL OF ONSET, CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS SHUL PHONE IN SUMMER, 508.291.1058 WWW.CAPECODSHUL.ORG Sagamore Bridge is shorter, with a total length happiness and prosperity to our country and of 1,408 feet. save some of the misery which the waters of the Cape have caused in thepast.” Then Belmont and Parsons shook hands, removed a shovelful of earth and allowed the waters from each bay to meet for the first time. Pole #260: Radar Tower The primary mission at the Cape Cod Canal is Pole #195: The Herring Run to ensure safe movement of vessels through River Herring make their spring migration up the waterway.
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